Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-02-10
BREEDING FOR BEEF.
Magnitude OF the Loss Resulting from the
Mistakes of Stoek-Rafsers-

AasaAtuoe o. the Loss resulting from the
Mistakes of Stoek-Raisers-
Breeders, feeders and butchers of cat
tie scoided when the folly of raising
and feeding beeves for the production
Of soap-fat was shown, six or eight
years ago. Yet they saw, what every
practical cattle man viii see readily.
that three-cent tallow can not be
profitably made by feeding good grain
to stock 1t NAV be true that the feed
er will receive for his over-fat beeves
prices that will pay richly for the
corn fed but the loss is there still.
The consumer pays it Part of the tai
low Is saved To make soap or oleomar-
garine, and that makes the loss to hui
mainly somewhat less than it would be
If all the tal.ow went to the dogs. as a
great part Low Goes.
To get a correct understanding of
the magnitude of the loss of food re-
sullng from the mistakes of breeders
and feeders, one should note how much
fat is left on the table after the roast or
the steaks have been eaten: he should
see how much fat the cook has put
aside before sending the meat to the
table; he should estimate the quantity
thus rejected from the whole carcass.
and finally calculate what the aggre-
gate is from all the ripe bullocks
slaughtered Meantime it will be well
to keep in mind the fact that not less
than 1850 to 5000 pounds OF corn IS
fed in fully ripening an average bull
lock. That grain will make from 500 10
600 pounds of beef, of which the great
er part, say 375 to $50 pounds will be
indigestible tallow. Thus the feeder
succeeds in condensinc from 3. 800 to B.
$50 pounds of nutritiye breadstuffs into
81 to 32E pounds of dry nutrition. or its
equivalent. Truly that is condensing
the product OF the farm-but the little
nutritive material left after the process
seems 10 have cost the world some
thing. II it be assumed that the corn
is worth 80 cents per bushel the nutri-
ton resulting from feeding it to steers
will cost at least 80 to 50 cents per
pound. while the nutrition in the corn
would have cost only eight-tenths OF
one pound.
will say nothing here of the tallow
eaten. nor hint 1T the bad effects there
of on the digestive organs of the eaters.
for OF s,at there will be diverse opin-
ions Each may decide for himself. if
he can, how much he is benefited By
the fat he eats. What all will admit,
for all will OF course be more anxious
to uncover the truth than to uphold
the breeders. Is that tallow can be
worth no more for food as meat than il
is as a material for imitation butter. and
that is probably not far from three
cents per pound, But it may be well to
drop this line of thought. lest it lead
dangerously near 10 the conclusion
that the growing Of beef or human food
Is a most wasteful use of land and
labor. for which there is the one excuse
only that man viii not live by bread
alone, but demands litcle butter there
with, and slice OF meat also, be the
cost what It may.
Feeders have been thinking of these
matters, and a few of them have deter
mined to try feeding for the production
of tender. juicy and lean meat. They
think that, handicapped as they are by
the strong hereditary tendency OF high
ly-bred beeyes to make fat of the food
they eat, cattle can be made, by in
telEgent treatment. to go on day after
day adding TO their weight of flesh. in
creasing very little the while their
store OF fat The task may
be difficult one. for the
feeder will have to conquer strong
tendencies fixed by generations OF
breeding for the purpose of intensifying
the very qualities that may soon be de-
elared useless, If not worse than useless.
A few men are preparing to feed beeves
for the production of the greatest at
tainable percentage of juicy, lean meat,
that light may be thrown On the ques-
ton whether or not such beef rs viii be
profitable to consumers. and paiatable.
can be made with profit TO the feeder.
The carcass which won the sweepstakes
at the last Chicago Fat Stock Show, and
the one which was next to that sweep
stakes carcass in the estimation of
Judges. were of bullocks fed on rations
consisting largely Of oats. In both
cases the habit of feeding maize was 50
strong that the feeders could not resist
it. but made one-Guarter of the rations
Oh ludl LtttiI pun
steers were OF races having 4
powerful hereditary disposition to
put fat on their carcasses. Yet. with all
these disadvantages the animals turned
out beef in which there was large per-
centa@e of eatable meat
Some skillful breeder viii be found
ere long with courage to cut free from
old traditions and enter squarely on
the new line OF feeding for the interest
of the consumer, by giving to his cat
tie rations composed as nearly as prac-
ticable of blood and tissue making ma
terial. He will find no difficulty in
selling at a good profit every ounce Of
such beef as he viii make by such
course, for while the public generally
may require educating up to the point
Of approaching nutritious beef, there
are plenty of people who viii welcome
any opportunity TO get meat while lean
and muscular, shall at the same time
be tender. juicy and toothsome--E. r.
Perrg, in Country Gentleman.